(NEXSTAR) — Americans on the move are largely heading south and west, particularly to parts of Texas and Arizona, Census Bureau data recently revealed. Yet, while many cities and towns grew, some of the largest in the country suffered population losses.

Between the summers of 2020 and 2021, census data revealed that cities in these regions — eight in the West, seven in the South — had the highest population growth rates. Georgetown, Texas saw the largest increase with a rate of 10.5%. Located about 30 miles north of Austin, Georgetown’s population could double in less than seven years if its growth continues at the same rate, the researchers found.

About 20 km west of Georgetown is Leander, the nation’s second fastest growing city. A third Texas city, New Braunfels, which sits between Austin and San Antonio, also landed in the top five fastest growing. Five cities in Arizona ranked in the top 15 fastest growing cities, while Idaho, Texas and Florida each had three.

Here are the 15 fastest growing US cities:

Rank	Zone name	State name	Percent increase
1	georgetown	Texas	10.5
2	Leander	Texas	10.1
3	Queen’s Creek	Arizona	8.9
4	Buckeye	Arizona	8.6
5	New Braunfels	Texas	8.3
6	Fort Myers	Florida	6.8
seven	Casa Grande	Arizona	6.2
8	maricope	Arizona	6.1
9	North Harbor	Florida	5.5
ten	spring hill	Tennessee	5.4
11	Happy new year	Arizona	5.4
12	Port Saint Lucie	Florida	5.2
13	Meridian	Idaho	5.2
14	Caldwell	Idaho	5.2
15	Nampa	Idaho	5.0

Comparing the total number of people moving in, the Census Bureau found that southern and western cities still had the biggest increase. Again, a city in Texas tops the list: San Antonio, with an increase of 13,626 residents. Close behind was Phoenix at 13,224.

Seven cities recorded both high growth rates and numerical growth: Port St. Lucie, Buckeye, New Braunfels, Georgetown, Meridian, Leander and Fort Myers.

These 15 cities welcomed the most new residents between 2020 and 2021:

Rank	Zone name	State name	Digital increase
1	San Antonio	Texas	13,626
2	Phoenix	Arizona	13,224
3	fort worth	Texas	12,916
4	Port Saint Lucie	Florida	10,771
5	North of Las Vegas	Nevada	9,917
6	Cape Coral	Florida	8,220
seven	Buckeye	Arizona	8,001
8	frisco	Texas	7,933
9	New Braunfels	Texas	7,538
ten	georgetown	Texas	7,193
11	Meridian	Idaho	6,234
12	Leander	Texas	6,159
13	Fort Myers	Florida	5,891
14	Denton	Texas	5,844
15	McKinney	Texas	5,568

Among the most populous cities in the country, more than half saw their population decline between 2020 and 2021: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose and Indianapolis.

New York City, which suffered the largest population decline at 305,465, still retained its title as the most populous city. The Big Apple edged out Los Angeles and Chicago, with the list rankings remaining the same as in 2020.

Here are the 15 most populous cities in the United States:

Rank	Zone name	State name
1	New York	New York
2	Los Angeles	California
3	Chicago	Illinois
4	Houston	Texas
5	Phoenix	Arizona
6	philadelphia cream	Pennsylvania
seven	San Antonio	Texas
8	San Diego	California
9	dallas	Texas
ten	San Jose	California
11	Austin	Texas
12	Jacksonville	Florida
13	fort worth	Texas
14	Columbus	Ohio
15	Indianapolis	Indiana

Seven US cities reached a milestone in 2021 and recorded a population of 50,000 or more. Among these are three from Texas – Kyle, Burleson and Little Elm. Also included in this core group are the Indiana cities of Westfield and Jefferson, as well as Lincoln, California, and Newark, Ohio. Six other cities saw their populations surpass 100,000 in 2021. These include Bend, Oregon; Fishers and Carmel in Indiana; and three in Arizona – Tuscaloosa, Goodyear and Buckeye.

The majority of cities and towns in the United States have a population of less than 5,000, according to census data, but they are home to less than 1% of Americans. Cities with 50,000 or more inhabitants – of which less than 800 – are home to more than 60% of the country’s population.

The reasons for demographic changes vary from city to city, due to housing costs, jobs, births and deaths. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown in the spring of 2020 made life in a crowded city less attractive for a time, and those who could leave, workers who could do their jobs remotely, for example, sometimes did. .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.